Helicon Blog

Helicon is an expert deep foundation and soil stabilization company that offers industry related articles for our visitor's education. Take a look at our most recent postings below. Here are some helpful articles to keep yourself informed and ready when disaster strikes.

Imagine you’re outside enjoying a beautiful Saturday afternoon and you notice cracks along the side of your lanai, or even worse pooling of water around those cracks. It certainly will change the mood for the rest of the weekend.

We rely on the ground. It is, pardon the wordplay, the bedrock of our civilization. We walk on it. We build on it. Without it, we'd have to figure out how to make floating cities either on the ocean or in the air.

Spring in Florida is upon us and with it brings the site of bright yellow flowers and trees! The showy tabebuia tree announces springtime in Florida, with varieties that flower in pink, lavender-pink, and its signature yellow. It's a time of renewal for nature and brings about new life to our lawns and gardens. We often use this time as our annual deep cleaning for our home before the rains of spring and summer come shortly after.

Tampa is the hardest-working city in Florida, with St. Petersburg on its heels.

A new list by WalletHub ranks 116 cities nationwide on factors such as average workweek hours, employment rate, unused vacation time and commute times to determine the cities with the strongest work ethic.

In 2017, multiple regions were severely impacted by natural disasters—and the real estate industry has been affected by them all. But one event which often occurs across the U.S. has largely been out of the limelight.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that 35 to 40% of all the land in the U.S. is susceptible to sinkholes. While giant sinkholes often make news, smaller sinkholes are also exceptionally costly to homeowners. In 2009, the average sinkhole claim cost Florida insurance companies over $86,000 for cracked driveways, walls, and foundations. In that year, insurance companies paid out over $97 million.

Sometimes you will not have any warning prior to a sinkhole developing, as it may come about within hours or minutes. But other times, there are signs leading up to a sinkhole collapse. When the sinkhole is on the outskirts of the condominium property, you may not be aware of it. However, if the sinkhole in Florida affects a specific condo unit or common area such as the clubhouse or pool, you will most likely see signs of structural issues. These signs will warn you that something is not right before a sinkhole fully develops.

It's a nightmare scenario; you're at home—maybe even sound asleep in your bed—or perhaps just walking down the street, and all of a sudden, the ground beneath you literally opens up, swallowing homes, cars, trees and even people into a muddy, seemingly bottomless pit. If you're in California, you might attribute such a catastrophe to an earthquake, but in Florida, chances are you've just witnessed—or been the victim of—a sinkhole. Some regions of the country are prone to sinkholes because of their geologic makeup—and Florida is one such region. Believe it or not, sinkholes are more of an insurance risk in the Sunshine State than hurricanes. And Florida has more sinkholes than any other state in the nation.

Frank Neumann got quite a shock around 1 a.m. on Thursday when he heard a sinkhole open up at his retirement community in central Florida. A few hours later, around 3 a.m., police knocked on Neumann's door and told him he had to leave.

A surge in multifamily production pushed overall housing starts up 9.7% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.33 million units after an upwardly revised December reading, according to newly released data from HUD and the Commerce Department.

The United States of America is currently enjoying strong economic momentum. Spending in the construction industry hit record highs towards the end of 2017, alongside positive gains in the manufacturing industry, according to data from The Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

All signs and numbers point to a huge year for the construction industry. Even in December, with much of the nation frozen, the construction industry added 30,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Knowing the early sinkhole warning signs around your property can save you thousands in foundation repair costs down the road. The sooner you can identify your potential foundation problems, the easier it is to fix them.

There is nothing inherently wrong with buying a home with a repaired sinkhole. However, buying such a home does require a level of caution and diligence and requires various documentation. In fact, buying a home with a repaired sinkhole may turn out to be in your favor, as these homes can be more affordable than homes with no known sinkhole activity. Whenever you are buying a home in Florida, it is wise to examine the surrounding area as well.

As 100% of what is raised on September 13 starting at 7:30 at Fodder & Shine will be impacting KidVestment through the support of Eckerd Kids and Friends of the Children who are working in partnership to offer a program that will impact the lives of our most vulnerable children, those in foster care.

On a scale of desirability, the house for sale on Whittner Drive in Land O' Lakes would rank fairly low. It's a short sale; it sits on an unstabilized sinkhole and it's within a few miles of two houses that collapsed into a gargantuan hole July 14.

In Florida, insurance companies are required to provide homeowners insurance coverage that includes damage from “catastrophic ground cover collapse.” They are also required to offer sinkhole damage coverage as an option, and it generally appears in a rider that comes at an additional cost.

Sinkholes never happen at a right time as demonstrated by the sheer force of Mother Nature that impacted 3 homes this past weekend in Land O’Lakes, Florida and force evacuating 9 others as precautionary measures.

Florida law defines a sinkhole as a, "landform created by subsidence of soil, sediment, or rock as underlying strata are dissolved by groundwater. A sinkhole forms by collapse into subterranean voids created by dissolution of limestone or dolostone or by subsidence as these strata are dissolved."

FFVA Mutual Insurance Company recently awarded Helicon with a highly sought after and prestigious award where annually only 10 out of 5,000 policies are recognized. The event recognized an unheard of insurance mod score of 0.69% and a loss rate of 3.8% for similar companies and over the last two and a half years, 4 managed loss time claims.

A Pre-Construction helical pier is a type of structural pier, which is installed below the structure before it is built. The steel pier is tied into the footer of the structure to keep the structure from moving due to weak or compromised soils. Normally this consists of a type of multi lead helical pier that is driven with precision deep into the ground until it rests soundly upon the underlying load-bearing strata.